Dear Pennekamp Families,

Calling all PK parents! Thursday evening is 1^st-5^th Grade Back-to-School Night. This annual gathering is one of the most important events of the school year, in which all parents are cordially invited and encouraged to attend.  The schedule for the events of the evening is as follows:

Back-To-School Night, Thurs., Sept. 20th

6:15-6:30 – PTA/MBEF Presentation to 1^st, 2^nd 3^rd Grade Parents in Cafe

6:30-7:15 – 1^st, 2^nd 3^rd Grade Presentations in Classrooms

7:00-7:15 – PTA/MBEF Presentation to 4^th, 5^th Grade parents in Cafe

7:15-8:00 – 4^th Grade Presentations in Classrooms

7:15-8:15 – 5^th Grade Team Presentation in Café

*Note: BTSN is a Minimum Day (8:15-12:45) for all 1^st-5^th graders. Lunch will not be eaten at school. Students may order a box lunch (ham or turkey & cheese sandwich, pretzels, fruit and milk) to take home.  Lunches may be paid for in cash or by using student lunch cards.

            The Pennekamp staff has been fortunate enough to work with your children over the past three weeks.  Now we are excited to meet the parents!  We hope that all parents will take advantage of this opportunity to meet your children’s teachers, and to learn what the 2007-08 school year holds in store for your children.

Back-To-School Night is for parents only.  Please refrain from bringing school-age children or younger siblings, so that you can devote your full attention to the meeting.  It is intended to be an informational event to discuss educational programs, grade-level standards and class expectations, rather than to talk about individual students’ progress.  Please be aware that we are only three weeks into the school year, and as such teachers are still just getting to know their students.  We ask that parents refrain from engaging teachers in protracted discussions about individual students, since teachers need to have an opportunity to meet each child’s parents.  If you have individual questions or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher at a later time. 

In cases where parents have two children whose teachers are presenting concurrently, we suggest that you “divide and conquer” by having one parent attend one presentation while one parent attends the other.  We apologize to any families with more than two children who have teachers  presenting at the same time.  Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate that configuration.

We look forward to seeing you all at Back-To-School Night Thursday evening.  Please do not park in school lots, as these spaces are reserved for staff.  Fortunately, ample street parking is available on both the Rowell Avenue and Peck Avenue sides of the school.  We will see you there!

BTSN for Kids - On Thurs., Sept. 20^th, AdventurePlex will be offering an evening of fun from 5:00-9:00 p.m. Parents may drop off children ages 6-12, and go to Back-to-School Night at PK. The cost is $20 per child, which includes play structure, sports, crafts, homework time and a dinnerof pizza, fruit and salad. For information call 310-546-7708 or online at AdventurePlex.org.

PTA Meeting – 6:30 P.M., Tuesday, September 25^th.

The first meeting of the year is always a big event! Our terrific PTA Co-Presidents, Denise Ellis and Cathey Graves, will be introducing the 2007-08 Executive Board and rolling out the budget and schedule of exciting PTA happenings for the year. Meet the PK teaching staff, who will be in attendance and be introduced by the principal. Refreshments and childcare will be provided. We hope to see you there. 

 

Sincerely,

 Dale Keldrauk

 

Artists in Residence – Once again Pennekamp is fortunate to have the services of very talented artists who will be working with our students. The AIR program is a joint venture between MBUSD and the City of Manhattan Beach. PK’s Artists in Residence for 2007-08 are Radha Delamarter (Drama), Hugo Haezaert (Art), Dulce Capadocia (Dance) and Mark Lewis (Vocal Music). PK’s PTA enthusiastically sponsors these programs at Pennekamp. This year’s Gift Wrap Fundraiser will earmark funds for the AIR program. We encourage families to support this fundraiser in order to ensure that our children reap the benefits of a strong arts program at Pennekamp.

Pride Day is Coming Soon! – 9:00-2:00, Saturday, October 13^th.  Our first of two annual school beautification days is less than a month away.  PK students, parents, friends, etc. are all cordially invited to come out to enjoy the fresh air and “spiff up” our school.  Event coordinators Kim Wilson and Maureen Gold have already been hard at work planning this event. Mark your calendars and plan on joining in on the effort.

STAR Education – Once again these after school enrichment courses will be offered.  The new STAR director is Dawn Kohn.  See the flyer in this week’s Tuesday envelope.

School Safety, Vandalism, etc.  – Recently we have been experiencing weekend damage to our school facilities.  In some cases, adults have seen groups of children (generally older than elementary) on campus on weekends or evenings with pellet guns.  Staff members have been finding lots of pellets, etc. on the ground when arriving at school in the morning.  Pellet guns (even with soft pellets!) are potentially dangerous weapons, which are capable of causing damage to property and injury.  We strongly urge parents to refrain from allowing children to have access to pellet guns, and to report any sightings of children in possession of them at school or in your neighborhoods.  

Head Room Parent Meeting – This meeting will be held on Thurs. Sept., 20^th at 8:30 am. in room 25.   Questions- call Susan Holton (310) 376-9206 or Chris Edmonds (310)318-3767.

Pacific School Blood Drive - Protect yourself and save 3 others by donating at the Pacific School Blood Drive Sat. Oct. 23^rd, 2007 in the Art room from 11 am.-5 pm.  For appointments please go to www.givelife.org and enter Sponsor Code “Pacificschool”.  You may also call Patty Bundy at (310)545-1646 for more information.

Enjoy the adventures of Scouting! – Pack 759 will host a “Race to Cub Scouting” on Wed. Sept. 19^th in the Pennekamp cafeteria from 6 – 7 pm.  Refreshments will be served.  Visit our website for more information at www.pack759.org.  Hope to see you there!

Gift Wrap Sale- Just a reminder that Gift Wrap orders go home today. Sell 10 items and receive a cool prize!  Please return all order forms to your child’s classroom by Tuesday, Oct. 2^nd.  Pennekamp receives 50% of all sales!

Friday Ice Cream – Ice Cream Fridays begin again on Fri. Sept. 21^st.  Enjoy a cool refreshing popsicle after an exciting day at school! Popsicles and fruit bars are $1.00. T-shirts and scrip will also be available.

 

IMPORTANT DATES

·          Tues., Sept 18^th – Gift Wrap Assemblies (15-20 minutes)

·          Wed. Sept., 19^th – Special Ed Task Force Meeting 9 am. – District Office

·          Thurs. Sept., 20^th - 1^st  – 5^th  grade Back- to- School Night

·          Tues. Sept., 25^th – 6:30 pm. 1^st PTA Meeting – Café

·          Wed. & Thurs., Sept. 19^th & 20^th – 5^th Grade GATE

·          Wed. & Thurs., Sept. 26^th & 27^th       – 4^th Grade GATE

·          Mon., Oct. 1^st  – STAR Education courses begin

·          Tues., Oct. 9^th – Vision and Hearing      Screening- Grades DK, K, 2, 5

·          Fri., Oct. 12^th  – Cultural Assemblies “Imagination Machine”

       9:00 = 4^th 7 5^th grades / 10:00 = 1^st,     

             2^nd, 3^rd grades

·          Sat., Oct. 13^th – Pride Day, 9:00 a.m. – 2 p.m.

·          Tues., Oct. 16^th – School Photo Make-ups

·          Oct. 23^rd-31^st – Red Ribbon Week

·          Wed.,Oct. 31^st – 8:45 a.m. – Halloween Parade – Pennekamp Field